The Love Algorithm - AdiYa FF

Chapter 5

He picked up his phone and walked out of the room. Arjun, amused by the whole situation, crawled closer to Yash on the bed, grinning.

"Finally, something interesting is happening in this house!" Arjun said mischievously.

Yash raised an eyebrow. "You want someone to fall in love that badly?"

Arjun laughed, stretching out his arms. "What can I say? There's no spice in this house. Everything's so dull. After mom and dad's love story, it's been totally boring here. Mahi wants an arranged marriage—useless girl! And you... don't even get me started on you. You show off that macho body and work out a lot, but for what? Let me at least have some fun setting up Bhai's love life!"

Yash chuckled, shaking his head. He got up and left the room, but as he reached the door, he paused, glancing back at Arjun before heading to his own room.

As he lay on his bed, Yash stared at his phone, turning it over in his hands. "You're the one thing I haven't shared with my brothers yet..." he murmured to himself. "But how can I say anything without knowing how you feel?"

He turned onto his back, staring at the ceiling. "I just hope you understand what I feel for you."

***

"An apology?" Noor asked, stuffing her face with popcorn, her eyes wide with amusement.

"Yeah..." Zoya said, combing through her hair. "I think... I'm ready to apologize to him now."

"No, no, no! Absolutely not!" Noor hopped off the bed and sat beside Zoya at the dressing table. "Zoya, you haven't had much experience with guys, so you're falling for these tricks. Let me tell you—there are no 'too-good-to-be-true' guys like in those old Bollywood movies. There's no DDLJ Raj or Vivaah Prem in real life!"

Zoya turned to face Noor, her expression doubtful. "But his apology seemed genuine, Noor..."

"Sweetheart." Noor patted Zoya's cheek gently. "Lots of guys act like that to impress girls. They play the whole 'nice guy' act just to win you over, especially with innocent, pretty girls like you. Trust me, these days, if you find a guy who respects your boundaries, even when you're alone in a room, that's when you can trust him."

Zoya thought about Noor's words, her brows furrowing, but then she shrugged. "Anyway... I'm not going to dwell on it too much. I have my dance class now, and I will be staying after class too to practice. I have informed Ma'am too. So I'll be back late, Noor."

Zoya draped her dupatta around her neck, while Noor followed her out the door. Zoya locked the house and handed the spare keys to Noor.

"Here, keep these. If Pooja comes home early, give the keys to her, okay?"

Noor nodded, pocketing the keys. They both parted ways, heading off in their respective directions.

***

It was 8:30 at night, and a furious thunderstorm raged as Aditya's bike began jerking violently. He slowed it down, only for the bike to sputter and die completely.

Aditya sighed and tried to kickstart the bike again, but it refused to cooperate. He glanced at the fuel gauge, realizing the problem, and banged the bike's engine with his fist.

"Damn it! No fuel... great!" he grumbled.

He parked his bike under the shade of a nearby building, looking at the rain, which was complimented along with light rumbles too. It was raining cats and dogs in a while.

"What a wonderful day!" Aditya ranted sarcastically. "First, the police caught me for riding without a helmet, then my phone dies, now no fuel in the bike, and to top it all off—a torrential rain and an upcoming thunderstorm! Beautiful!"